


Tumbleweed

by Ebhenah



Series: Klancemas 2018 [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Ice Skating, Laith, Lance is scandalized, M/M, Romantic dates, klance, klancemas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 05:33:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16826161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ebhenah/pseuds/Ebhenah
Summary: Lance has made it his personal mission to fill Keith's life with all the 'classic' dates that everyone should have. This time it is Ice SkatingWritten for the Klancemas event by @MonthlyKlance on tumblrKlancemas 2018“Tumbleweed”Dec 3: Ice Skating





	Tumbleweed

It was their First Christmas (which was important enough to warrant capitalization!) since they started seeing each other and over the months they’d been ‘officially’ dating, Lance had discovered that Keith had been sorely lacking in romantic moments in his lifetime. There were some that everyone just HAD to experience, and Lance had made it his personal mission to make sure that Keith got to do every cheesy, sappy ‘classic’ date he could humanly manage.

In the time since they’d started actually dating (instead of just hooking up at random intervals) back in April, he’d enlisted the help of pretty much everyone he knew to cross some of the trickier ‘special’ dates off his list- like apple picking, and finding a state fair with a tunnel of love, and now- tracking down the most romantic spot to go ice skating. Well, technically the most romantic spot to go ice skating that ALSO rented ice skates… because he wasn’t shelling out the money to BUY two pairs of ice skates for a single date.

Still, he was excited. So far, all of the ‘special’ dates have been… nice. Really nice. They haven’t really been as perfect as he would like, but real life isn’t a rom-com, despite his best efforts… Plus, Keith doesn’t have as much of a romantic streak as he does. He’s been holding out hope that that is mainly because Keith hasn’t really had the chance or inclination to NURTURE a romantic streak and that one might… kind of… take root in that cynical heart of his.

It was a small hope… but a tenacious one.

And the special dates HAVE been good ones. They’ve had fun. They’ve gotten closer. Keith had stopped saying that Lance was making a ‘big fuss for no reason’. In fact, the last ‘classic’ had been a walk through the park looking at the leaves and getting hot chocolate together and that had been AWESOME! They’d had a blast and when stopping to drink the chocolate and watch the early sunset had meant getting chilly, they’d snuggled up together and Keith had been so relaxed and happy that he hadn’t even scowled when Lance had called him ‘cute’.

This time, he’d actually let Lance blindfold him. Actually, the first miracle was that he’d agreed to let Lance DRIVE… then he’d agreed to the blindfold with hardly more than a sigh and an eyeroll. That was… kind of mind-blowing, actually.

“Do you have, like, hints for me to try to decipher?” Keith asked as Lance parked the car.

“Nope,” Lance answered, smiling hugely, “and you can take the blindfold off now. We’re here.”

“Before I do- this isn’t some kind of ambush is it? I’m not going to take this off and get hit with some weird version of ‘this is your life’ or anything?”

“What? No! But, that’s an awesome idea! I am going to have to put that in the ol’memory bank,” he laughed, leaning in to kiss his boyfriend softly, tugging the blindfold off, “it’s just us. A real DATE- me and you and nobody else, see?”

“Are we…” he looked around, the spot was obscenely pretty. Snow covered the branches of tons of old-growth trees, sparkling and filtering the sun into little pockets of dancing light. There was a stream nearby, just big enough to keep from freezing over and close enough that they could hear it ‘babbling’ even in the car. There were a few wrought iron benches scattered among the trees, populated by people feeding the winter birds. At the end of the parking lot, sat a small bank of bleachers that looked to be made of halved logs, and a little building that was decorated like a gingerbread house and sported two signs: ‘Rentals’ and ‘Returns’. “Are we at an outdoor rink? We’re going skating?”

“We’re going skating!” Lance repeated, with the proper level of excitement thankyouverymuch!

“Is this one of your whole ‘I learned how to date from Hallmark movies’ things?”

Lance rolled his eyes, “I don’t watch HALLMARK movies!”

“This seems like a Hallmark movie thing,” Keith said levelly.

“Since I don’t watch Hallmark movies, I will have to defer to your CLEARLY more educated opinion,” he teased, “since you’ve obviously watched enough of them to spot the supposed similarity from the parking lot.”

“You’re really not as funny as you think you are,” Keith muttered, reaching for the door handle.

“No! It’s a date, and I drove- so I have to get your door for you,” he insisted, hopping out of the car. He could see Keith shaking his head as he rounded the vehicle and opened the passenger side door.

“You are ridiculous with this stuff,” Keith said, but Lance could see the smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He hated to admit it, but Keith really loved it when Lance treated him like he was ‘important or something’ (because he WAS. Keith was very important to him!).

“I am a gentleman,” he argued, slipping his hand into Keith’s as they headed to the rental office, “you are just going to have to get used to that… and that means, I get the door when I drive. It means I walk you to your door at the end of the night…”

“Lance, you walk me to my door at the end of the night because you are SPENDING the night,” Keith laughed.

“But even if I WASN’T, I’d still walk you to your door and say good-night and make sure you were safely inside before I left,” he pointed out, “and maybe leave out the whole spending the night bit if my Mom ever asks if I am being a gentleman.”

“We’ve been dating for MONTHS, Lance… you are the youngest of five kids- your mother is well aware that we are having sex.”

Lance gasped, eyes wide with horror as he turned to Keith, “take that back! My Mom thinks I am an absolute angel! Pure as the driven snow! Nope. Nuh-uh. I refuse to accept that she even SUSPECTS anything else.”

“What’s… happening here? Is this you being in denial?” He asked, brow creasing with confusion, “or is this you being grossed out by the idea that your Mom knows you aren’t a virgin?”

“Stop it!”

“C’mon Lance, be serious,” he chuckled, “she’s a grown woman, she knows how things work!”

“I’m not listening!” He dropped Keith’s hand to clamp both of his over his ears, “lalalalalalalalalalala I can’t hear you!”

“Lance! You are TWENTY years old!” He was on the verge of cracking up, “and your mom is always going on about how handsome you are and what a heartbreaker you were and how ‘all the girls loved’ you… be serious!”

“No! Shhh! Stop talking!” He gave up on the ineffective tactic of covering his ears, choosing the much more rewarding one of kissing Keith until they BOTH forgot what they were talking about.

Keith laughed into the kiss, which was something he’d only started doing recently and that Lance kind of loved. Because he thought it meant that Keith was relaxing with him a bit. Trusting him more. Sometimes, early on, it had felt like he was courting a porcupine or something- one wrong move would trigger a defensive response that could really hurt. Lately though… probably since… ohhh yeah, since Keith had dragged him camping on Labor Day Weekend… things had been… mellower. He’d been less guarded. More affectionate. So, lately, Lance could do this… kiss him and know that they’d be able to get lost in it for a bit- without losing track of where they were and who might see and start heading down a path that was very much not fit for public viewing.

“You are adorable,” Keith said as the kiss broke, “Loverboy-Lance horrified to think that his Mami knows that he likes to fuck.”

“Keith!” he squawked, head whipping around to make sure there were no kids in the vicinity. “Public!”

“I’m not a complete jackass, Lance,” he chuckled, “I did CHECK for people nearby before I said that.”

“Can we just talk about something else?” Lance sighed, “like.. ANYTHING else?”

“Okay, sure,” he caught Lance’s hand and squeezed it, “I didn’t want to upset you. You know that right? I just… I think it’s funny how much it means to you that she thinks you are… how did you phrase it? ‘Pure as the driven snow’? It’s sweet, though… really.”

Lance huffed, but he rubbed his thumb over Keith’s hand, “sometimes I forget… because you are one of like six people who knows what my life was like in space, who understands about being a Paladin and everything we went through… but THIS… I forget that you and I had very different lives before Voltron.”

“It’s okay Lance,” he said, smiling at him, “I really like your family- your Mom, especially. I love how close you guys are. I just… it’s so different from my relationship with my mother.”

“Yeah, you and Krolia have kind of a unique relationship,” he said, brushing his lips along Keith’s jaw. “It’s awesome, but…”

“Yeah,” his smile was sad, “maybe if we hadn’t been pulled apart by the war, I’d understand better.”

“I love you,” he said softly, “you know that, right?”

“I do,” Keith answered, “and I love you, too… and weren’t we supposed to be ice skating?”

Lance blinked, “oh my god… we need to get our skates!”

He laughed, “you completely forgot, didn’t you?”

“You’re distracting,” he muttered. “Come on,” Lance tugged on his hand, dragging him over to the counter.

It didn’t take long to get situated with skates and before he knew it they were stepping out onto the ice. “So, is the rom-com date just the ice skating? Or is there like a flashmob waiting for some secret cue?” Keith asked, gliding backwards on the ice to make room for Lance.

“Just the skating,” he chuckled, “no flash mob. I mean, I THOUGHT about a flash mob, but… I figured you’d dump me on the spot if I tried.”

“I wouldn’t dump you for something like that,” Keith replied, laughing along with him, “I knew you were an overly dramatic romantic before I fell in love with you. Just like you knew I was a moody loner before you fell in love with me. You wouldn’t dump me for acting like a moody loner, right?”

“Of course not,” Lance smiled at him, stepping tentatively onto the ice and grabbing Keith’s hand, “you’re MY moody loner. I love you just the way you-” Suddenly, he was lying on his back, staring up into Keith’s concerned face.

“Are you alright?” Keith asked, “did you hit your head?”

“Ummm.. yeah, I’m ok. The only thing hurt is my pride,” he flashed a charming smile, sitting up.

“Rusty, huh?”

“I didn’t THINK I was- I was rollerblading most of the summer.”

Keith braced, holding his hand out to help Lance to his feet, only to have him fall again. “Rollerblading? Lance? How long has it been since you were ICE skating?”

Lance’s smile was sheepish, “ummm… never? But blades are blades, right? It’s all just skating.”

“You have NEVER been ice skating?” Keith echoed, “darlin’, why would you pick THIS as a date if you don’t know how to skate?”

“I DO know how to skate! I roller blade all the time, I can even DANCE in old school roller skates!”

“Quiznak,” Keith sighed, dropping into a surprisingly stable crouch, “this is a lot LIKE roller skating or rollerblading, but it’s not the same. Being able to one doesn’t mean you can do the other. You really never learned how to ice skate?”

“If I HAD, I’d be gliding gracefully around the rink with you, not sitting on my ass on the ice, Keith,” he pointed out dryly. “I figured I’d be the one helping YOU- the guy from the desert!”

“Charities LOVE to spring for kids in the system to have big ice skating parties during the holidays,” he explained “I used to go ice skating a few times a year when I was a foster kid. I can teach you, if you like?”

“You can?”

Keith shrugged one shoulder, “yeah. I’ve taught a bunch of kids over the years. It’s not that hard… especially since you are used to rollerblades. Think of it like… um… learning a new weapon. Revolvers and sniper rifles are different in a lot of ways, but they are both GUNS right? The basic principles still apply. Aim. Breathe. Prepare for the kickback. Squeeze, don’t pull the trigger. Etc.”

Lance smiled, touched at the offer and at how Keith was trying to find a comparison to a skillset that Lance, specifically, was confident in. “I would LOVE it if you taught me how to skate,” he answered.

“Alright, first step is to get you up on your feet again,” Keith answered, “c’mon tumbleweed.”

It took Lance about an hour to get the hang of staying upright and moving forward with enough confidence and grace that he no longer clung to Keith like a lifeline. Keith was notoriously hot-tempered, but he was an incredibly patient and supportive teacher. He never got frustrated or cranky, even those times when Lance pulled or knocked him to the ice when he’d fall.

They spent a surprising amount of time laughing, and even more time talking. Keith had quickly figured out that over-thinking was Lance’s biggest downfall. If his mind was occupied with something else, he’d relax and let his body self-correct without stiffening up or jerking. If he was trying to concentrate on the skating, he seemed to completely bypass his own natural grace.

STOPPING on his own still seemed like an impossible dream, but Lance wasn’t really complaining about the way Keith would catch him in his arms and slow them both down to a stop while he skated backwards. He also was definitely NOT complaining about the soft praise and encouraging little kisses Keith doled out once they did stop moving.

The little countdown buzzer they’d been given to track their rental time went off much sooner than Lance had expected and Keith gently guided him back to the little bank of bleachers by the rental office so they could change back into their regular boots.

“This was NOT how I was expecting this date to go,” Lance laughed as they waited in line for the bizarrely small return window to give back the skates. “Did you have fun?”

“I always have fun on our dates,” Keith answered, “I always have fun with YOU, Tumbleweed. Even when we aren’t on a date.”

“Aww… look at you being all sweet and borderline romantic. Here, hand me your skates, I’ll pass them both in together.” He let go of Keith’s hand to collect the skates, handing both pairs over and signing the log book that tracked the rentals. He commented on them using old school pen and paper and how he thought it was cute. The teenager just nodded, a weird smile on her face. Even after all this time, he STILL wasn’t used to the strange pseudo-celebrity status he had as a Paladin of Voltron. It just always felt WEIRD when someone recognized him, but he was raised to be polite so he just smiled at the kid and didn’t mention the awkwardness.

“Alright,” he said, stuffing his gloves into his pocket and turning back to Keith, “let’s head back to the… what?” He looked around, like scanning the area would somehow change what he saw in front of him. Keith. On one knee. A ring box in his hand. “Oh my god… Keith!”

“Lance,” Keith purred, his voice quiet and sure and steady, even though Lance could see in his eyes how nervous he was, “we’ve been dating for, like eight months, and I know a lot of people would think that wasn’t very long… but you and I… we are so much more than those eight months. We’ve been through the worst stuff the universe could throw at us, watching each other’s backs and working together. We got off to a bit of a rocky start, but it didn’t take long for us to get past that. We are such a good team. You bring out the best in me. I like to think I bring out the best in you. I’m happiest with you. I… make SENSE when I’m with you. I hope I make you just as happy. I hope you want to give me the chance to do that for the rest of our lives. I have loved you for so long, even when you drive me crazy, even when you don’t make sense to me. I was away from you for two years and it didn’t lessen that love, like, at all. You SEE me. ALL of me… and you love me.” He opened the ring box to reveal a very simple silver (white gold? Platinum? Some kind of alien metal? He couldn’t tell the difference.) band with a tiny pearl flanked by two rubies inset in the metal. “Will you please be my husband?”

Lance had been crying since Keith had said his name the first time. Seeing that ring box had rendered him speechless, which was good, because it meant that he hadn’t interrupted Keith’s little speech. How had he ever thought that this man wasn’t a romantic? Apparently, he just saved up the romance for the big moments.

“Lance?”

“What? Oh!” he shook himself out of his state of shock. “Oh my God! Yes! Of course, yes! Yes, I’ll marry you! Oh my God! Keith!”

Keith stood, pulling Lance into his arms for a passionate kiss as the people around them erupted into cheers.

After a moment, Keith pulled back, taking the ring out of the box and slipping it on his finger, “the pearl because you love the ocean. One ruby for your birthday, because you being born changed my life. The other for Red… because we wouldn’t be us without Voltron, and we’ve both been her paladin.”

“Oh my God,” he whispered again, awed, “it’s perfect. You are perfect… perfect for me. The perfect boyfrie-I mean, the perfect fiance. I love you, Keith Kogane. So much. I can’t wait to marry you!”


End file.
